Action Records hit with unhinged backlash to Twenty One Pilots listening party

The owner of a city centre record store said he was left baffled after coming under fire for hosting an official listening party for the new Twenty One Pilots album.

Action Records, on Church Street, will host the event one week before the release of Clancy, with free merchandise on offer for those who attend.

When the announcement was made on the shop’s X/Twitter account, it was inundated with negative replies and claims lead singer Tyler Joseph would be furious about it – despite it being an official event organised by the record company.

Announcing the event, the shop published: “Join us for an official @twentyonepilots listening party for the forthcoming album ‘Clancy’ on SATURDAY 18TH MAY – 5pm!! Featuring new singles ‘Overcompensate’ and ‘Next Semester’, you’ll get the chance to listen through the whole album in store before its global release.”

In response, it received multiple replies and shares suggesting it shouldn’t be happening before the release and that Joseph would be angry about it. One user warned that the shop should “get ready for the hellfire”.

The record store’s long-serving owner Gordon Gibson told Blog Preston he did not understand why it had faced such strong opposition. He said: “I’ve spoken to Reflex in Newcastle and they got the same. I think they don’t understand it. I don’t think they know what it means.”

“I’ve been talking to my rep and other people and everyone’s been saying ‘what the hell?’

“For a start, the first thing they’ve missed is the word official.”

Gordon said such events are a regular occurrence at the store, with the likes of Lana Del Ray, Blur and Pearl Jam all involved in pre-release listening parties. He added that “you’d get shot” if you really were playing the album early without permission.

Among the comments that particularly upset him was one person who wrote “why in f***ing Preston of all places”. Gordon described this as very nasty, adding “It was actually very annoying. What’s wrong with Preston?”

Despite the backlash, support for the party has been strong. “We have real interest in it. I’ve a feeling all those silly people are going to end up feeling rather stupid.”

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